On KGNU’s Morning Sound Alternative, host Ginger Perry spoke with the folk duo Rakish, featuring Conor Hearn and Maura Shawn Scanlin, ahead of their performance at eTown Hall in Boulder. The pair discussed their seven-year musical partnership, their blend of Celtic and Appalachian influences, and their experience recording several albums together and with other artists. Despite living on opposite coasts—Connor in Boston and Maura in Asheville, North Carolina—they continue to collaborate regularly, meeting before tours to prepare sets. (Studio Session: 10/14/25)
Ginger Perry: [00:00:00] KGNU—88.5 FM Boulder, 1390 AM Denver. This is the Morning Sound Alternative. Ginger here with special guests Rakish, made up of Conor Hearn and Maura Shawn Scanlin. Good morning to you both.
Rakish: Good morning! Thanks for having us.
Ginger Perry: It’s kind of not too early in the morning, right?
Rakish: No—it does feel a little early for us, but yeah, we’re hanging in there.
Ginger Perry: And they’re playing at eTown Hall, the wonderful eTown show that we broadcast here on KGNU on Sunday mornings at 11:00 a.m. Nick and Helen Forster always do such a good job, and they’ve chosen these wonderful people, Rakish, to be on their show tonight.
The show’s at 7:00—tickets are still available, and you can go to etown.org for more information. They’re performing with another group called Tea at Six. Here they are, Connor and Maura. How long have you two been playing together?
Rakish: We started our band almost seven years ago.
Ginger Perry: Wow! [00:01:00] And you’ve been touring all over the place.
Rakish: Yeah, we’ve been doing a lot of that.
Ginger Perry: How many records do you have out?
Rakish: At this point, I’d say at least three. But we’ve both worked on a lot of other people’s records too—between the two of us, there are quite a few.
Ginger Perry: Like who else?
Rakish: There are at least three Rakish records. We’ve got some more material in the works. Maura has a really great solo record, and we’ve both played on a bunch of friends’ and collaborators’ albums that feature all of the homies.
Ginger Perry: Oh, good! And is there kind of an Irish influence in your music?
Rakish: Definitely. All the music we play is music that we write, but it draws deeply from Celtic music traditions, as well as some Appalachian old-time traditions too. I grew up in western North Carolina, so I have that sound in my ears as well.
Ginger Perry: Oh, nice. Where do you live now?
Rakish: I live in Asheville, North Carolina.
Ginger Perry: And how about you?
Rakish: I’m based in Boston.
Ginger Perry: Oh, good! That’s a lot of long-distance practicing on Zoom.
Rakish: At this point, we just try to meet up a few days before a gig, work up our set, and then go out and play some shows.
Ginger Perry: Alright—let’s hear you play something. What’s this song called?
Rakish: It’s called Lightly Come, Lightly Go.
Ginger Perry: Rakish here on KGNU. They’ll be at eTown tonight.
[Music: “Lightly Come, Lightly Go” plays — 00:03:00 to 00:05:00]
Ginger Perry: That’s wonderful. You get such a big sound out of two instruments and two voices. It sounds a lot bigger than what I’m looking at right here! That was wonderful—thank you. I really enjoyed that.
Funny thing—when Maura walked in, she heard me playing this group, I’m With Her, with Sarah Watkins, Sarah Jarosz, and Aoife O’Donovan.
Rakish: Yeah, we’re actually so lucky to be staying with Aoife’s brother in town!
Ginger Perry: Isn’t that funny? She said, “Oh, I’m staying with Aoife’s brother,” and I was just playing Aoife on the radio!
So, you guys have been doing a little circuit here. You played Swallow Hill on Sunday?
Rakish: That’s right.
Ginger Perry: Where did you play in Fort Collins—a house show?
Rakish: Yeah, we played a house show as part of the Irish music community there, which was really nice last night. We’re looking forward to the show tonight at eTown.
Ginger Perry: Seven o’clock at eTown—that’s quite an honor that they selected you.
Rakish: Yeah, we’re really excited about it.
Ginger Perry: You guys are great.
Rakish: You’re kind—thank you.
Ginger Perry: Now, you said you live in North Carolina. Do you have a day job that keeps you there?
Rakish: I don’t have a day job. I love it there, in the mountains of western North Carolina. I grew up in Boone, which is a couple of hours north of Asheville, so I feel like I live close to my homeland these days—which is a really nice feeling.
Ginger Perry: Do you have family there?
Rakish: My parents live in Boone.
Ginger Perry: Oh, nice. How far away is that?
Rakish: About two hours north.
Ginger Perry: And how about you, Connor, in Boston?
Rakish: I live in a town called Medford, near Cambridge and Somerville—just north of Boston.
Ginger Perry: And you do music full-time?
Rakish: I do music all the time.
Ginger Perry: You guys are dedicated—you sound wonderful. Thanks. Let’s have another song.
Rakish: We’ll do an instrumental one now. This is a piece called Time Check. I wrote it for that moment in live shows—or any quiet environment—when somebody’s watch or phone alarm goes off. It always happens to us. Alright, this is Time Check.
[Music: “Time Check” plays — 00:07:00 to 00:10:00]
Ginger Perry: Fantastic!
Rakish: That was Time Check.
Ginger Perry: Oh yeah—Time Check! I love watching you two play because you’re so passionate, and every now and then there’s a smile. You can tell you’re really enjoying it and really into the music—and it’s great music.
If you want to watch them like I’ve been doing, go to eTown tonight at 7:00. If you’re interested in getting tickets ahead, visit etown.org and you’ll find all the details. It’s Rakish—that’s R-A-K-I-S-H. How’d you get that name?
Rakish: At the beginning, when we first started playing together, we were doing a lot of traditional Irish music. We played a tune called Rakish Paddy from the Irish traditional repertoire. A friend suggested, “Why don’t you call yourselves Rakish?” And we said, “Okay!”
Ginger Perry: Perfect. And another group, Tea at Six, will be performing with them tonight. Of course, Nick Forster always does terrific interviews with the performers, gives out an achievement award, and it’s always a wonderful evening of entertainment, education, and good music.
Thanks for coming, Connor Hearn and Maura Scanlon of Rakish. You can see them tonight at eTown.
Rakish: Thanks for having us.
